All 110 volt circuits infected with 220 volts

[toledodon2002]

This is the second time I have plugged into a 30 amp service and all my 110 circuits have 220 volts. This immediately smokes the two televisions, refrigerator, and microwave. The first time this happened I took my rig to Camping World in Byron GA, they found no problem. I also called a RV electrical Tech to come to my site and he also found no problem. Eight months have passed since the first and most recent disaster. Repairs and replacement will cost about $1500.00; I have not yet taken my MH in for repairs. I am going to wait until I have more information on possible causes so I can ask appropriate questions. Also my generator has not worked since the first episode. Paid Camping World $125.00 diagnostic fee for them to tell me they could not find anything wrong other than "the generator does not work". For several months prior to this most recent electrical problem I have used both 50 and 30 amp service at several locations in Arizona and California.
HELP!

[toledodon2002]

This is the second time I have plugged into a 30 amp service and all my 110 circuits have 220 volts. This immediately smokes the two televisions, refrigerator, and microwave. The first time this happened I took my rig to Camping World in Byron GA, they found no problem. I also called a RV electrical Tech to come to my site and he also found no problem. Eight months have passed since the first and most recent disaster. Repairs and replacement will cost about $1500.00; I have not yet taken my MH in for repairs. I am going to wait until I have more information on possible causes so I can ask appropriate questions. Also my generator has not worked since the first episode. Paid Camping World $125.00 diagnostic fee for them to tell me they could not find anything wrong other than "the generator does not work". For several months prior to this most recent electrical problem I have used both 50 and 30 amp service at several locations in Arizona and California.
HELP!

[Route 66]

Toledodon2002, welcome to to iRV2.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

If the 30 amp receptacle is wired for 120 volts, there is nothing in your rig that would boost it to 240 volts.

It has to be a wiring problem at the campground.

Did you measure 240 volts?

Were both of the failures at the same campground?

One of THESE will prevent such problems.

[adj]

Your 30-to-50A adapter takes a single leg voltage and feeds it to both legs of your 50A feed. If you measure the hot leg-to-hot leg voltage at the 50A end, you should read 0 volts since it is supposed to be from 1 leg of a 240V system. You should also read 120V to ground from both the hot legs. If you read anything else, there is something wrong with the 30A feed or your adapter.

[RV Wizard]

toledodon2002, welcome to iRV2.com. We are glad to hvae you join us here but we are also sorry to hear of your troubles. It sounds like you have a loose neutral if the pedastal itself is not the culprit. Always make sure the circuit breaker feeding the recelptacle is off before you plug in or unplug the cord; then turn it on. As mentioned before a SUrge Guard or similar protection system would have saved you from this expensive inconvinence and possible safety hazard. I will not plug into ANYTHING with out my Surge Guard in the cicruit first. There are too many electronics in these coaches today to take a fraction of a second risk.
We hope you get it resolved and that you will keep us posted as to the culprit.

[Gary RVRoamer]

toledodon2002,
Where were these 30A receptacles? A campground, a friend's house or maybe some business location? I ask because a 30A dryer outlet or a 30A welder outlet looks very close to an RV outlet but will indeed deliver 220-240V to your rig and fry everything it touches.

If it occurred at a campground, I hope you notified them and demanded they pay for your damages. Their insurance covers such things.

As for your generator, has the transfer switch been tested? It is most likely fried and simply not switching over to generator power. The generator itself would not have been online when the 220V was applied, so it ought to be OK.

[Hillbilly2]

Route 66 is correct, nothing in your RV would change the 120 to 240 using the 30 amp service. You did not say whether this was the same receptacle that did it, or two different locations. If it was the same receptacle, it could have been wired incorrectly, or an open neutral in the power system feeding the receptacle. Is this a receptacle that you had installed at your home, or is it at a campground? If it is at a campground many others would have had the same complaint. If this was two different places, don't play the lottery because you have extremly bad luck, sorry! An open neutral in the RV wiring while plugged into the 30 amp RV receptacle would not cause this damage, but if plugged into a 50 amp receptacle would. Need more info to properly diagnose (guess at) this problem.

[kaisooba]

Sounds like an open neutral to me!
28 years as a crew Foreman in the Utility business, I have seen whole houses with black face plates on every outlet. As they FLASH over from an open neutral. Who owned the receptacle?
NEVER plug in before you Check power and polarity!!!!!!!
I missed the 30amp part! If it was not a 50amp
Then the 30amp had to have been wired wrong!
Was this at a CG or a shop? Sorry I missed the 30amp.
If this was at a CG and every other site used one leg. Then indeed an open neutral in the under ground could cause this. If others put load on the other leg that leg would lose voltage and the leg he was on would go up. Maybe not 240v but 140-180v would do the same thing. The key is WHERE did this happen?

[Gary RVRoamer]

The 30A outlets have only one hot, so an open neutral cannot produce 240V.

[Jarhead1]

Google rv electric

[cvrvr]

Not sure how this can happen. But is the reason that I check every outlet that I plug into with a voltage meter for voltage and polarity. Also have a SurgeGuard unit installed.

Sorry to hear about your trouble

George

[kaisooba]

Did anyone ever find a cause?
Did this happen at the same place?

[TXiceman]

It is not unknown that an electrical will wire a 30 amp RV plug like an older 30 amp house plug with 240 VAC. I would be suspicious and check the source with a volt meter.

Ken